We're searching for a new FC to replace the current PPC FC we're flying, which is now 5 years old and woefully behind the times. We have until Thursday September 1st to find and order the board, and really we ought to make the decision on Tuesday August 30th at our meeting.
Requirements
The requirements are divided into Must, Should, and May.
Must
- x86 architecture
- PCI-104 or PC-104+ compliant (MUST have PCI)
- Extended temperature ranges (Target: +80 deg C) and fan-less operation
- Soldered on DRAM (unless DRAM socket meets vibratory requirements, e.g. MIL-STD 810F Method 51x)
- Ubiquitous (no niche processors; easily replaced)
= 1 High speed USB 2.0 host controller
- Must fit amorphous power requirements: dissipation and low power
Should
1.5 GHz (gut feeling)
- CAN (can be PC-104 card)
- On-board solid state disk storage (can be external SSD)
- 1-3 hardware UARTs (Console, GPS, ATV)
- Ethernet (debug)
May
- PCIe version of the PC-104 standard
- SPI
- GPIO
- I2C
- "FPGA"
- Sufficient documentation to replace BIOS.
Candidate Boards
Before you add a board to this table, make sure it actually meets the MUST requirements above. Specifically, extended temperature range, fanless, soldered down RAM, etc.
| Manufacturer | Model | PC-104 type | Processor | RAM | Flash | UARTs | USB | CAN | Power | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eurotech, Inc | ISIS XL | PC-104+ | Atom Z5XX 1.3 GHz | <= 1 GB DDR2 SDRAM | <=4 GB (parallel) | 2 | 8 | NA | 5V @ 4.5 W | ? | Weird "module on module" design... too fat? |
| Kontron | MSMST : 802310 | PCIe/104 | Atom E665CT 1.3 GHz | <= 2 GB | NA | NA | 2 | NA | 5V @ 14W | ? | Has Atom w/Altera 60K gate FPGA built in. Is PCIe/104 OK? Vaporware? |
| Advantech | |
PC-104+ | Atom N450 1.67 GHz | 1 GB (SODIMM) | 2GB (CF) | 2 | 4 | NA | 5V @ 11.9 W | $510 | I2C, GPIO, Ethernet, video. |
| Advantech | PCM-3363N-1GS6A1E | PCI-104 | Atom N455 1.66 GHz (Single Core) | 1 GB (Soldered) | n GB (CF) | 2 | 4 | NA | 5V @ 11.9 W | $361 | HALT Tested, SMBus, GPIO, Ethernet, video, Says PC-104, but no ISA connector. |
| Advantech | |
PCI-104 | Atom D525 1.8 GHz (Dual Core) | 1 GB (Soldered) | n GB (CF) | 2 | 4 | NA | 5V @ 11.9 W | $391 | HALT Tested, SMBus, GPIO, Ethernet, video, Says PC-104, but no ISA connector. Has fan. N450 variant w/o fan, $361. |
| Lippert | Cool RoadRunner-945GSE | PC-104+ | Atom | . | |||||||
| Orbit Micro | M-US15W-Z510-R10 | PCI-104 | Atom | . |
Where:
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| RAM | Amount of soldered- on RAM. If it's a module, note the form factor (e.g., 'SODIMM'). |
| Flash | Amount of soldered on Flash. If it's a module, note the form factor (e.g., 'SD card' or 'CF'). |
| UARTs | Number of RS-232 UARTs (don't include RS-422/423). |
| USB | Number of USB 2.0 HIGH SPEED ports. |
| Power | Voltages required, total power consumption. |
Selected Board
Advantech PCM-3363N-1GS6A1E, because it's passive-cooled and socketed RAM, unlike the other Advantech boards. We ruled out the Eurotech and Kontron boards because we weren't sure we could get them. We added the Lippert and Orbit Micro boards at the last minute, but didn't find them interesting enough to examine them thoroughly.
We'd prefer the PCM-3363Z-1GS6A1E, which has an extended temperature range of -20°C to 80°C, while the 3363N has a more conventional temperature range of 0°C to 60°C. We'll try to get the extended range if we can order it now, or fall back on the commercial model otherwise.